Transport Scotland litter removal: EIR release

Information requested

• How many fines have been issued for littering on the Transport Scotland road network?
• How much litter has been removed by Transport Scotland/BEAR Scotland?
• What total costs are associated with lifting this total number and the disposal of it?
• For a timescale, I am interested in the last three financial years. In terms of geographic picture, I am interested in all of Scotland

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

To aid with my response I have answered the questions in the order they were received.

You asked for how many fines have been issued for littering on the Transport Scotland road network?

Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested because fines imposed for littering can only be issued by the Local Authority and Police Scotland. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about fines issued for littering on the Transport Scotland Road Network clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

How much litter has been removed by Transport Scotland/Operating companies?

Please see Annex A to this response for information regarding litter collection falling within the remit of Transport Scotland's Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate contractors (DBFO) who manage and maintain the trunk road network on our behalf. Please note, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to clear litter on all verges and roads, including trunk roads (but excluding motorways and special roads). You may wish to contact the relevant local authorities for more information regarding this subject. 

What total costs are associated with lifting this total number and the disposal of it?

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) (Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) of the EIRs applies to the information you have requested. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by our Operating Companies and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests. Disclosing this information would be likely to give our Operating Companies competitors an advantage in future similar tendering exercises, which would substantially prejudice their ability to submit competitive tenders and so could significantly harm their commercial business.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into Transport Scotland contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500473371 - Information released - Annex A

File type

Excel document

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14.1 kB